namo nArAyaNAya!
prathamo'dhyAyaH (contd.)
*************************
bhIShma, in order to cheer up duryodhana and start the
yuddha, blew his conch. following this, the others
also blew their respective conches, signalling the
start of the battle.
tasya sa~njanayanharShaM kuruvR^iddhaH pitAmahaH.
siMhanAdaM vinadyochChaiH sha~NkhaM dadhmau
pratApavAn..1.12
tataH sha~NkhAshcha bheryashcha paNavAnakagomukhAH.
sahasaivAbhyahanyanta sa shabdastumulo'bhavat..1.13
tataH shvetairhayairyukte mahati syandane sthitau.
mAdhavaH pANDavashchaiva divya sha~Nkhau
pradadhmatuH..1.14
this forms a wonderful dhyAna shloka for the entire
gItA. it is worthwhile to recollect a story told about
shrI chaitaNya mahAprabhu in this context. there was
once a young man in shrIra~Ngam who used to read the
gItA, with tears in his eyes and with great devotion,
though full of mistakes without understanding even a
word of it. everyone used to criticize him for reading
the gItA wrongly without even understanding it's
meaning. when mahAprabhu visited shrIra~Ngam, he
happened to notice this lad and enquired about what he
was doing. when he learnt about him, he asked the
young chap why he was crying since he didn't
understand anything in the gItA. the young man replied
that though he did not understand a word of the gItA,
whenever he read it, this particular image of
kR^iShNa, sitting as a sArathi, infront of arjuna, in
a brilliant chariot, appeared in his mind and that he
was filled with great love for this 'pArthasArathi'.
mahAprabhu immediately hugged him and told him that he
had understood the purport of the entire gItA!
pA~nchajanyaM hR^iShIkesho devadattaM dhana~njayaH.
pauNDraM dadhmau mahAsha~NkhaM bhImakarma
vR^ikodaraH..1.15
anantavijayaM rAjA kuntIputro yudhiShThiraH.
nakulaH sahadevashcha sughoShomaNipuShpakau..1.16
kAshyashcha parameShvAsaH shikhaNDI cha mahArathaH.
dR^iShTadyumno virATashcha sAtyakishchAparAjitaH..1.17
drupado draupadeyAshcha sarvashaH pR^ithivIpate.
saubhadrashcha mahAbAhuH sha~NkhAndadhmuH pR^ithak
pR^ithak..1.18
sa ghoSho dhArtarAShTrANAM hR^idayAni vyadArayat.
nabhashcha pR^ithivIM chaiva
tumulo'bhyanunAdayan..1.19
atha vyavasthitAn dR^iShTvA dhArtarAShTrAn
kapidhvajaH.
pravR^itte shastrasaMpAte dhanurudyamya pANDavaH..1.20
hR^iShIkeshaM tadA vAkyamidamAha mahIpate.
(arjuna uvAcha- )
senayorubhayormadhye rathaM sthApaya me'chyuta..1.21
thus, when the armies were ready to fight, arjuna
requests kR^iShNa to place the chariot in between the
two armies so that he can survey the kaurava army.
yAvadetAnnirIkShe'haM yoddhukAmAnavasthitAn.
kairmayA saha yoddhavyamasminraNasamudyame..1.22
yotsyamAnAnavekShe'haM ya etetra samAgatAH.
dhArtrAShTrasya durbuddheryuddhe
priyachikIrShavaH..1.23
from these two verses, it is very clear that arjuna
had no qualms in fighting with his own kinsmen prior
to his delusion. in other words, he knew fully well
that this was a yuddha fought for establishing dharma,
though he had to fight his own relatives. but, this is
about to change very shortly.
sa~njaya uvAcha -
evamukto hR^iShIkesho guDAkeshena bhArata.
senayorubhayormadhye sthApayitvA rathottamam..1.24
bhIShmadroNapramukhataH sarveShAM cha mahIkShitAm.
uvAcha pArtha pashyaitAnsamavetAnkurUniti..1.25
here, kR^iShNa shows arjuna the assembled army of the
kaurava-s. now comes the most important aspect of the
first adhyAya - arjuna's delusion and his subsequent
grief. kR^iShNa is called hR^iShIkesha, the controller
of the senses, in order to show that it was He who
brought out the grief and delusion hidden in arjuna,
so that, using arjuna as a tool, he could teach us the
essence of Atma vidyA in the form of the gItA [1].
tatrApashyatsthitAn pArtha pitR^Inatha pitAmahAn.
AchAryAnmAtulAn bhrAtR^In putrAn pautrAn
sakhIMstathA..1.26
shvashurAn suhR^idashchaiva senayorubhayorapi.
tAn samIkShya sa kaunteyaH
sarvAnbandhUnavasthitAn..1.27
just a few shloka-s back, we find arjuna mentioning
the members of the kaurava army as 'dhArtarAShTrasya
durbuddheryuddhe priyachikIrShavaH'. but now, he sees
the very same members of the kaurava army as teachers,
brothers, sons etc. thus, identifying himself with the
body and assuming that the others are his own, he
suffers. this is clearly brought out in the next
shloka.
kR^ipayA parayAviShTo viShIdannidamabravIt.
arjuna uvAcha -
dR^iShTvemaM svajanaM kR^iShNa yuyutsuM
samupasthitam..1.28
here, arjuna, because of the doSha-s of 'i' and 'mine'
with respect to the body and the members of the
kaurava army, calls the kaurava-s as svajanam. this
delusion disguises itself in the garb of compassion
and causes the following effects,
sIdanti mama gAtrANi mukhaM cha parishuShyati.
vepathushcha sharIre me romaharShashcha jAyate..1.29
gANDIvaM sraMsate hastAttvakchaiva paridahyate.
na cha shaknomyavasthAtuM bhramatIva cha me
manaH..1.30
and then, because of his delusion, arjuna mentions a
large number of reasons why he should not fight the
battle. it is not necessary for our purposes to get
into the details of those. what is necessary for us is
to understand the natural tendency of the mind to
invent it's own reasons (which are invariably flawed)
in order to support one's ideas derived from delusion.
nimittAni cha pashAmi viparItAni keshava.
na cha shreyo'nupashyAmi hatvA svajanamAhave..1.31
na kA~NShe vijayaM kR^iShNa na cha rAjyaM sukhAni cha.
kiM no rAjyena govinda kiM bhogairjIvitena vA..1.32
yeShAmarthe kA~NShitaM rAjyaM bhogAH sukhAni cha.
ta ime'vasthitA yuddhe prANAMstyaktvA dhanAni
cha..1.33
AchAryAH pitaraH putrAstathaiva cha pitAmahaH.
mAtulaH shvashurAH pautrAH shyAlAH
saMbandhinastadA..1.34
etAnna hantumichChAmi ghnato'pi madhusUdana.
api trailokyarAjyasya hetoH kiM nu mahIkR^ite..1.35
nihatya dhArtarAShTrAnnaH kA prItiHsyAjjanArdana.
pApamevAshravedasmAnhatvaitAnAtatAyinaH..1.36
this represents the peak of arjuna's delusions. he
states that sin alone accrues by killing an AtatAyi.
an AtatAyi is one who sets a house on fire, one who
poisons others, one who wields weapons, one who steals
wealth, other's land or wife [2]. in fact, duryodhana
fits into all of these six categories. it is also
clearly stated in the shAstra-s that an AtatAyi can be
killed without any further considerations [3]. the
above verse shows that arjuna was completely out of
his senses because of grief.
in the following verses, arjuna gives continues to
give reasons why he should not fight. since they are
largely self explanatory, i've just written down the
verses, just for the sake of completeness.
tasmAnnArhA vayaM hantuM dhArtarAShTrAn svabAndhavAn.
svajanaM hi kathaM hatvA sukhinaH syAma mAdhava..1.37
yadapyete na pashyanti lobhopahatachetasaH.
kulakShayakR^itaM doShaM mitradrohe cha pAtakam..1.38
kathaM na j~neyamasmAbhiH pApAdasmAnnivartitum.
kulakShayakR^itaM doShaM prapashyadbhirjanArdana..1.39
kulakShaye praNashyanti kuladharmAH sanAtanAH.
dharme naShTe kulaM
kR^itsnamadharmo'bhibhavatyuta..1.40
adharmAbhibhavAtkR^iShNa praduShyanti kulastriyaH.
strIShu duShTAsu vArShNeya jAyate varNasa~NkaraH..1.41
sa~Nkaro narakAyaiva kulaghnAnAM kulasya cha.
patanti pitaro hyeShAM luptapiNDodakakriyAH..1.42
doShairetaiH kualghnAnAM varNasa~NkarakArakaiH.
utsAdyante jAtidharmAH kuladharmAshcha
shAshvatAH..1.43
utsannakuladharmAnAM manuShyAnAM janArdana.
narake niyataM vAso bhavatItyanushushruma..1.44
aho bata mahatpApaM kartuM vyavasitA vayaM.
yadrAjyasukhalobhena hantuM svajanamudyatAH..1.45
yadi mAmapratIkAramashastraM shastrapANayaH.
dhArtarAShTrA raNe hanyustanme kShemataraM
bhavet..1.46
sa~njaya uvAcha-
evamuktvA'rjuna: sa~Nkhye rathopastha upAvishat.
visR^ijya sasharaM chApaM shokasaMvignamAnasaH..1.47
footnotes and references
************************
[1] "...sarvalokAnugrahArtham arjunaM nimittIkR^itya
Aha bhagavAn vAsudevaH..." (G.B. 2.11)
[2] MS provides the following quote from vashiShTa
smR^iti (3.19), "agnido garadashchaiva
shastrapAnirdhanApahaH. kShetradAraharashchaiva
ShaDete hyAtatAyinaH.."
[3] MS quotes this from manu smR^iti (8.350-1),
"AtatAyinamAyAntam hanyAdevAvichArayan. nAtatAyivadhe
doSho hanturbhavati kashchana"
vAsudevaH sarvaM,
aparyAptAmR^itaH.
Amuthan Arunkumar R,
Final year, B.Tech/M.Tech Dual Degree,
Dept. of Aerospace Engg., IIT Madras.
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